Why MYSTERIES? Because that is the genre I read. Why PARADISE? Because that is where I live.
Among other things, this blog, the result of a 2008 New Year's resolution, will act as a record of books that I've read, and random thoughts.

17 April 2017

Review: THE MIDNIGHT PROMISE, Zane Lovitt

A brilliant Melbourne crime novel, told in ten hardboiled stories.John
Dorn is a private investigator. Just like his father used to be. It
says ‘private inquiry agent’ in John’s Yellow Pages ad because that’s
what his old man called himself, back before his business folded, his
wife left him and he drank himself to death.

But John’s not
going to end up like his father. He doesn’t have a wife, or much
business. He doesn’t really drink, either. Not yet.

In each of
these ten delicious stories Zane Lovitt presents an intriguing
investigation filled with humour and complex, beautifully observed
characters. At their centre is John Dorn, solving not so much crimes as
funny human puzzles; but the crimes, and the criminals, are forever
lurking nearby, taunting him from the city’s cold underworld.

It’s
his job to unravel the mystery, or right the wrong, or just do what the
client has hired him to do. Somehow, though, there is a misstep at
every turn, and John takes another small stumble towards his moment of
personal truth. His midnight promise. Perhaps even his redemption.

My take

I remember some discussion when this book was first published about whether it is a novel, as the publisher claims, or a collection of short stories.

The setting is an underbelly of life in Melbourne. While the stories do appear to be in sequential order, the actual timing is not very clear. In addition there are characters and incidents that connect some of the stories. Sometimes John Dorn takes on some seriously unsavoury tasks, at other times he appears to be following a thread that he thinks will earn him some money. He is constantly in need of money. Many of the jobs he carries out do not yield any income at all. Over the period covered by the stories John Dorn's own life goes into a downward spiral. Mostly the stories are very dark, with an underlying black humour.

So in a sense there is a underlying narrative through which we see Dorn's character fleshed out, the overall story progresses, and various issues are resolved. So does that make it a novel?

This is the second time I have read this novel. See my earlier review here.

I suspect that I haven't warmed to the novel any more second time around than I did on first reading, although I recognise that it is cleverly constructed. Probably it just isn't my cup of tea.